Burlington band makes happiness, not money

The Smittens take their own path to longevity

Aug. 14, 2012

The Smittens scrimp and save to pay for their own European tours and say they still love what they do after 10 years. The band is celebrating the release of its new album, 'Believe Me,' with a concert at The BCA Center on Church Street. / Courtesy Photo

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There are a few ways for a band to have a long, successful career. Strike it big on “American Idol,” though that option seems less and less likely these days (wherefore art thou, Taylor Hicks?). Sacrifice everything and climb your way through the recording industry to make it to the top, then fight like a dog to stay there (not that we’re thinking of Madonna or anything).

Then there’s the route followed by The Smittens, a humble group of pop-music-makers. All five of The Smittens have been with the band for a decade. All have day jobs. They scrimp and they save so they can pay their own way to Europe for regular tours of the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, places where they have an even-larger fan base than they do in their hometown of Burlington.

This is not a money-making enterprise, as Colin Clary, the closest thing this egalitarian quintet has to a front man, said on a recent sunny afternoon at his North Avenue home. “We’re probably about break-even,” he said.

“We all have an equal stake in it,” said his band mate, David Zacharis, “and the goal isn’t monetary. There’s none of us at the end of the show saying, ‘Where’s my cut?’”

So what is it that The Smittens are after? Is it — gasp! — the intrinsic joy of making music? Clary suggests the path to musical longevity is to make friends on the road and “try to do the things that make you happy,” and that that’s the main reason The Smittens are still enjoying what they do when other bands on the Burlington scene have come and gone in the past 10 years.

Clary and Zacharis talked about how a couple in Sweden decided to walk down the aisle at their wedding to a Smittens song. “Those are the moments you’re in it for,” according to Zacharis.

“All you need is three minutes,” Clary said, referring to the typical length of one of The Smittens’ breezy pop tunes, “and you could change somebody’s life forever.

The Smittens are back on terra Americana after their latest European summer jaunt, and they’ll be playing a show Friday in their home city. The band is celebrating the release of its new album, “Believe Me,” with a concert at The BCA Center on Church Street. “Believe Me” was released on the British label Fika Recordings.

Clary, who sings and plays guitar, and Zacharis, the bass player who oversees much of the band’s album-cover artwork, spoke of how they, singer-guitarist Dana Kaplan, singer-keyboard player Max Andrucki and drummer Holly Chagnon used to draw bigger crowds when their harmony-happy sound first hit Burlington’s clubs. “You’re new, people get excited, your shows are packed, and then people don’t go as often,” Clary said.

“We don’t draw as many people as when we were new, and I think that’s just how Burlington rolls,” according to Clary. “I don’t think we’re what’s cool now.”

The Smittens have carved out a unique underdog niche built around happy tunes peppered with surprisingly melancholy, socio-political-influenced lyrics. Clary said that style appeals to “disenfranchised lefties who are optimistic and think corporate stuff is crap,” and to people who, despite their optimism, have an inner sadness.

“I don’t think there are any bands that sound like us,” Clary said.

Despite a formula that minimizes financial windfalls, the band members would still welcome success that allowed them to be more financially independent.

“There’s definitely always the dream of some long-term money because somebody wants your music,” Clary said, though quickly adding that an album like “Believe Me,” the band’s fourth, is its own artistic reward. “Once the record is made and exists, no one can take it away.”

That’s a mark The Smittens have been leaving for a decade now.

“I’m definitely proud. When we made our third record I was like, ‘How many bands in Burlington make three records?’” Clary said. “The whole length of the story — I like that we have one.”